First Steps: lowering weight and bulk

[FLTurtle]

12 or 15 foot straps.?

Any suggestions ?

Depends. I have 10ft and 15ft. The 10s work for almost everything here in Florida, mostly pine and palm trees. But we also have live oaks. And even then, sometimes 15s ain't enough strap. How big are the trees for a majority of your hangs?

[cmoulder]

12 or 15 foot straps.?

Any suggestions ?

I've backpacked quite a few places in the NE and 12' straps have been totally adequate, and this is for a knot-to-CL setup. I carry a 3' dog bone which I might use once or twice a year.

[cbm9000]

12 or 15 foot straps.?

Any suggestions ?

12' should be fine around NY. I'm in PA and I feel like my 15' straps are overkill in the places I go.

[Bobonli]

Thanks so much

[Tpatter]

Meyerstech sells what has become my favorite strap - the blue polyester. Love it so far, we’ll see how it holds up over time.

We have some very large trees around here, so I like have 15-18’ straps and since they pack so small and weigh so little, I don’t feel like I am paying a penalty for the extra reach. Nothing worse than giving up a perfect hanging spot because I wanted to save 12g of weight.

[MikekiM]

12 or 15 foot straps.?

Any suggestions ?

I started with 15's (with whoopies too.. what was I thinking)
Switched to 12's a bunch of years ago
Now carry for the past two years one 12 & one 8, with two 3 foot Dynaglide dog bones. Never had to use the dog bones for suspension, but I carry them anyway. I expect to shorten the 12 at some point.. it's starting to show a few fray points.

This past weekend I my hang was a long one with one 4' diameter behemoth at the foot end and one 8" diameter at the head end. Used every inch of the 12'r but still didn't need the dog bone.

[Bobonli]

Thanks everyone. I went with 12 footers.

[KingMob]

I have gone from using carabiners and kammock pythons, to 1.5 spider straps and tiring direct to my continuous loop.

I also took off all of my hardware after learning to tie a few knots for attaching my tarp.

The savings are all small, but they add up.

[cmoulder]

I have gone from using carabiners and kammock pythons, to 1.5 spider straps and tiring direct to my continuous loop.

I also took off all of my hardware after learning to tie a few knots for attaching my tarp.

The savings are all small, but they add up.

Beyond the small weight savings, it's the mindset of simplifying, and then extending that process to the entire backpacking kit.

Next thing you know, you're carrying a head full of skills instead of a pack crammed full of stuff.

[Tpatter]

Beyond the small weight savings, it's the mindset of simplifying, and then extending that process to the entire backpacking kit.

Next thing you know, you're carrying a head full of skills instead of a pack crammed full of stuff.

Amen!

There’s nothing like a long painful backpacking trip where you brought everything but the kitchen sink to teach you that ‘less is more’!

Next season I’m going to embrace restraint and see if I can get down to a frameless under 40l.